The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Driveline Is my tranny toast?

I need some opinions - when I drained my tranny (3 speed, 46 pickup) to remove the torque tube, only about 2-3 ounces of oil came out the lower hole. There was no oil in the u-joint housing. When I bought the truck from a dealer 6 mos ago I asked them to change the fluids (dumb, should have done it myself). Because I first had my garage repared, then puttered around with adding turn signals, etc. I've only driven it about 60 miles since I purchased. All the times I drove it it shifted fine, stayed in gear, synchro worked. Do you think it is permenantly ruined? Suposedely it was rebuilt about 5000 miles ago. Thanks.

add oil and put it back together. The tollerances aren't as tight as a modern transmission. If you have noises or trouble shifting, THEN you will have problems. Transmissions don't normally wear out. They Break!

Did ant metal come out with the oil? I would believe it is fine, but I would at least take a cover off and look if I could.

A lot of the oil we carry in sumps, etc. is for endurance, sort of like having a 20gal gas tank vs a 1gal tank. need to stop and refill less often. As long as the gears had oil on them and weren't overworked, they should be fine.

Interesting story... A Dash8-300 once landed at an outlying airport and the crew reported problems selecting reverse thrust. The propeller and engine use the same oil supply. The mechanic checked the oil by the sight gauge and thought it was full (as had mechanics for the previous few days). He tried pouring in a quart anyway, to see the line move. It didn't... Eventually 14 qts went into a 12 qt reservoir. So this 2000hp engine was running for several days for multiple flights per day with only the oil that was on the gears. No damage was found when the engine was examined. I don't recommend filling less that manufacturers recommendation, but as long as the oil doesn't get cooked and the parts in contact have a film of oil, lubrication will take place.

Thanks for the input - the little bit of oil that drained looked brand new. I did stick my finger in and rub the bottom of the case then wiped on a paper towel. There were some extremely tiny silver flecks of metal, smaller than the point of a pin. That worried me, but since it drove OK, my first inclination was to fill and drive it and see how long it lasts. Thanks again.

Fill it up and drive on! Unless it's making crunchy noises, you probably haven't done any serious damage.
Jerry

If you didn't work it hard, a few ounces of oil probably was enough. As suggested before, drive it and don't worry about it unless it starts making noises.

Check the lube in the rear end. The trans lube is probably back there. I used to find them real low on grease all the time back when I was in the service business.

Wrenchbender - you were correct. When I opened the fill hole on the differential, oil came pouring out filling the whole opening, it poured out for a while. With the amount that came out I'm surprised my back brakes weren't soaked. I plan to replace the front torque tube busings/seals.
Thanks everyone who replied - gave me some peace of mind.

This is the best old Chevy truck information place by a darn site.

No doubt about that Builder. I don't know how folks restored these old trucks without the internet and this site. I'm eternally grateful for all shared knowledge here.